29 December 2008

e.g., the Indian Embassy bombings in Kabul did little to outrage the Middle East

The Israelis are striking Gaza for a second day, and protesters from across the Arab world are lining up with a vengeance. From Tehran to London, the usual ruckus of anti-Zionist rhetoric can be heard loud and clear. Like the fat woman at a club, this blog steers clear of taking an opinion on the Israeli/Palestinian issue, since a small strip of land with few resources in which three major religions lay claim might prove troublesome for discussion. But the Middle Eastern outrage at Israel, has failed to materialize as terrorists murder their own fellow Muslims (with the exception of Iraqis).

Recently, 14 schoolchildren were murdered by a suicide bomber in Khost, Afghanistan. The grisly video of the attack can be viewed here. Are there going to be imams in Saudi Arabia and protesters in Cairo gathering to condemn this atrocity? Highly doubtful. IraqPundit has some sharp insight on why this is the norm in a post entitled "Right Civilians, Wrong Civilians":

Arabs are ready to protest when the U.S. does something wrong (Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo). Arabs are ready to protest when civlians get killed by the U.S. or Israel. But rarely if ever do they protest when some hate-filled extremists kill civilians. I'm talking about Iraqi civilians. I don't recall huge demonstrations against the suicide bombers and other extremists in Iraq responsible for the murder of most civilians.

The Arab Street accepts the extremists as noble fighters. They see them as decent fellows who had no choice but to turn violent in the face of injustice. And because they are noble fighters, people forgive them when they kill civilians. On Friday a Hamas rocket killed two Palestinians kids. Poor children didn't know they were the wrong kind of civilians.

That's the injured Palestinians' problem. They're the wrong kind of civilians. This Arabic report says Hamas admits that they are preventing injured from going to Egypt for treatment. The principled Hamas leaders say it's not fair of Egypt to open Rafah crossing just for the injured, they should open it for fighters and smugglers as well. Too bad for the injured, they must be sacrificed for the cause.

The frustrated Arab Street is angry that their voices are ignored. I agree they have much to protest about when it comes to their nasty regimes. People have every right to be angry about Abu Ghraib, etc. But perhaps if the Street objected to the killings of all civilians, more people would listen.

The fact that much of the world's Islamic community forgoes condemning terrorism and accepts them as "freedom fighters" represents, in some ways, a strategic communications failure on America's part. When people in the Middle East still overwhelmingly believe that the U.S. or Israel was behind 9/11, it is obvious that we are not succeeding in enabling moderate messengers in troubled regions rife with terrorist activity. This will be a serious diplomatic challenge for the incoming Obama administration, and I hope he doesn't shrug off this key component of our current efforts to curb terrorism.

The US could very well be behind 9/11, classic false flag. Heck, at least 6 of the alleged terrorists to have hijacked those planes STILL LIVE, the financing trails back to pakistan, a US ally, the whole thermite thing... and the fact that two of the crash locations had no debris larger than what could be easily carried by a person. It wouldn't even be the first time there was a false flag operation targeting those buildings.

Nothing cut and dry, but there's plenty enough for doubt.

I do agree that there's a lot of hypocracy on the part of the arabs though. On the other hand, I would object to this: "Arabs are ready to protest when civlians get killed by the U.S. or Israel. But rarely if ever do they protest when some hate-filled extremists kill civilians."

Which seems to exclude Israel from having any hate-filled extremists... clearly not so(they're not any worse than the palestinians, but they sure as hell aren't any better either).

Please, the average muslim could give two shits about people who are martyred in the name of allah and certainly don’t share a similar disgust at the tactics.

I heard over and over again (from muslim and their western left wing pussy flacks) how the insurgency in Iraq, and elsewhere, were justified for the way they behaved because of incidents like Abu Ghrab, but I wonder what would be said if the average Hindu went on muslim killing rampages over the murders and sexual torture that went on in Mumbai?

I guess one could say that squandered opportunities have been the hallmark, of sorts, and legacy of the departing administration. And, while Obama/Biden will be inheriting this very serious diplomatic challenge, they will also be handed an unprecedented opportunity that none of us can afford to have squandered. Shrugging off this challenge will simply not be an option. Call me a cockeyed optimist but there is just too much at stake and too many lives in the balance for any more squandered opportunities.

On the day that they are sworn in, I'm looking for Obama/Biden to demonstrate bold leadership and immediately take steps to restore US credibility and moral standing in the world, particularly across the Arab and Muslim world...measures that will help to enable the moderate messengers in regions that are ripe for terrorist activity and recruitment. If we don't see this kind of strong US leadership come January 20th, then it's pretty safe to say that we never will.

No matter what the scholars and so called moderates say, jihad, freedom fighting, etc, is a part of the Islamic faith. Read the Koran. Islam's ultimate goal is to submit the entire world to Islam or allah, and by any means neccesary. The prophet even lays out the different ways to do it, and I have to say looking around the world, they are quite successful. I ask this question, if the U.S. or Britain, Russia, etc, had a neighboring land, country, that sent rockets at them repeatedly, Do you think that the response would be so patient about acting, and do you think that it would not be an all out war and invasion to put an end to this once and for all? And yet, the rest of the world condemns Israel for trying to protect it's country and people.What hypocracy. OH, they are mostly JEWS and don't have oil, right?

I agree with MCkail, I find it extremely strange that during an accountablity for fianance, just prior to this, that the Pentagon, could not account for what had happened to a few trillion dollars. They just had not idea. Rumsfield testified, he didn't know. IT seems almost too convenient that the one place that was hit at the pentagon was the area where the records of fianance were stored, and also, that that was the only part where construction of new fortifications were being made, maybe just conspiracy theory coincidence, but it really brings up the question. No more investigation, records gone, and was a great test to see how well the new fortifications would hold up. Held up well, all records to the investigation gone though. I think a few trillion dollars if they were imbezzled, is a disgrace, our armed forces needed that money. Anywaysmost Muslims think that the Jews were behind 9 11, and everything else that is bad in the world and they want to wipe them off the face of the earth just as Iran's I'm on a Jihad, said, just easier to pronounce and spell his name that way

The punishment for being a Christian in many Islamic states is beheading,Saudi Arabia doesn't allow any other religion to come in country. They donate billions to an organization to spread Islam around the world, who have centers in the U.S. many other countries. I can't remember the website, but if you go to it, and fill out a form where to send it, they will mail you a free Koran, so if you want a koran don't pay for it, let the Saudi's do it

"When people in the Middle East still overwhelmingly believe that the U.S. or Israel was behind 9/11, it is obvious that we are not succeeding in enabling moderate messengers in troubled regions rife with terrorist activity."

Hard to believe, when we have it straight from Condi Rice's mouth about how successful the Bush administration has been in the Middle East...

Re: your larger issue, are you suggesting that Arab govts be as outraged about a non-state actor's killing of 14 individuals as Israel's methodoligical killing of 280+ and 600 wounded? Seems to be an issue of scale here.

Who is This Clown?

Nixon is a former Navy guy who did a couple of deployments at sea and spent a year in Iraq. He enjoys reading and writing about the strange intersection between war, politics, and the media. He enjoys being an ex-pat and NGO employee in Bangkok for the time being.